Church of Most Holy Saviour, Agrar 2.12

The Church of Most Holy Saviour also known as Agrar Church is a historic Roman Catholic Church situated in the locality of Bantwal. The church was built in 1702, but it is believed that the existence of church was prior to this. It is the one of the oldest churches in Dakshina Kannada district. This church comes under Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore. Currently Rev. Fr. Benjamine Pinto serves as the parish priest at this church.HistoryAgrar means the village of Brahmins and is derived from the Kannada word Agrahara. Once the most extensive parish of the Diocese of Mangalore, extending from Bantwal to Charmadi borders and from the Nethravathi river to the Gurupur river, it is certain that the Agrar church existed even prior to the founding of the Bantwal church in 1702 by Fr. Miguel Dmello. There are no records available to show the exact date of the origin of the church at Agrar. Fr. Jose da Costa was the Vicar at Agrar in 1751. Tipu Sultan had demolished the first church. It was rebuilt on the same foundation after the return of the Christians from the captivity. No chronological list of the parish priests prior to 1801 is available. The church was rebuilt, expanded, and renovated by Fr. Camil Baretto in 1889. Br Moscheni S.J., artistically painted its sanctuary in 1902. Fr. R.F.C. Mascarenhas built the presbytery in 1914. The church has been renovated on the occasion of the tricentenary of the founding of the parish in 2002.